


A Cat and His Boy

by azureheavens



Category: Tales of Graces
Genre: A meet-cute of a different type, Cats, Fluff, Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-20 16:45:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16559438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azureheavens/pseuds/azureheavens
Summary: The tale of a tail you just can't shake.





	A Cat and His Boy

**Author's Note:**

> Bringing the genre of "fluff" to its natural conclusion. That cat in Lhant is one of my favorite things about the game, so I wanted to make sure he got a chance to shine.

The mid-morning air was crisp and cold in Lhant. Without a cloud in the sky, the faint outline of Foselos stood out more than ever. Sophie and her father (as new a title as it was, she loved calling Asbel that) were out on their morning walk. They always did rounds through the town, greeting travelers and townsfolk alike. Visitors were more and more common, especially with the monsters exposed to Fodra’s eleth finally taken care of.

It warmed Sophie’s heart to see her home so peaceful, and it warmed her more to know that she was once just a guest to this town. Now Lhant was home. Asbel made it so, though like in the past, she still always followed him around.

In fact, she wasn’t the only one following him now.

Over the past few days, a tan cat with pale white stripes had been stalking them on their rounds.

He was always napped by the catnip Asbel helped Sophie plant in Cheria’s garden. It wasn’t that long ago that the fragrant plant sprouted and grew well on its own. With it, the cat sprouted up too. Each day she watched him roll in the dirt and nibble on its leaves. Now he ignored the plant. And look straight at them.

At least, straight at Asbel.

One day, Sophie was helping to stack the crates in the general store’s storage room while her father discussed trade issues with the shopkeeper. She didn’t have time to change out of her new white dress, so dust stuck to the fabric as she worked.

Cheria wouldn’t be happy if she stayed dirty like this. She left the back room to brush off the dirt, holding her loose hair to the side so it wouldn’t get in her way. A ways away from her, Asbel stood nodding as he listened to the shopkeeper’s concerns. Sophie smiled.

Then her eyes fell on a pair of pale green eyes wide as the moon, its pupils tiny slits. peering from the flowers.

Sophie stared back. She never saw the cat anywhere but by the catnip. Slowly, he tiptoed from his hiding spot, deliberately treading closer and closer to his target: Asbel. Sophie mirrored its pace. She never blinked as she drew closer.

The cat halted, measured her, then judged her unworthy of his time. He pressed on.

Was the cat going to attack Asbel? Captain Malik once told her that cats were solitary creatures, but cunning hunters. When they all travelled the world together, they had stopped to feed many different cats. They were all quite lazy to have food brought to them rather than to hunt for themselves, but feeding those cats was how she got the catnip seeds to begin with.

But this one never seemed… unfriendly. So she let cat walk all the way to the back of Asbel’s legs. He sniffed the bottom of his shoes, then the surrounding dirt. Neither Asbel or the shopkeeper noticed at all.

“Alright, that settles it,” Asbel said, dropping his hand from his chin. “We can probably get more materials from Fendel if we renew those permits today. Just drop them off with me once you have them ready.”

The shopkeeper grinned and bowed his head. “Thanks so much, Lord Asbel.”

Asbel returned his smile with a nod and took a step back, right on top of a yowling pile of fur.

Sophie gasped. “Dad!” But her cry did nothing to stop him. Asbel fell back, arms pin wheeling to find balance. His heel landed on the poor kitty’s tail, sending the cat scrambling back into the flowers.

Asbel caught himself, eyes wide. “What _was_ that?”

“A cat,” said Sophie, hurrying to her father’s side. She looked to the flowers. Nothing was there.

The shopkeeper failed to stifle a laugh. “Are you okay, m’lord?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, but...” Asbel’s voice trailed off before shaking his head. “Sorry about that. Uh, is that all you need from me?”

With nothing to add, the shopkeeper bowed again and sent them on their way back home. Asbel frowned as they walked, guilt from hurting the cat plain on his face. Sophie patted his arm, smiling in sympathy. “I’m sure that cat you stepped on is okay now.”

Asbel winced. “I didn’t even see him. When did a cat get there?”

“He was very sneaky.”

“Yeah, I guess cats are like that.” Asbel smoothed the top of his head, which did nothing to tame his hair.

Sophie eyes flicked to the side. The faintest shuffle of the stems gave way to the same pale green eyes from earlier. “Asbel, look.”

He stopped. The cat crouched under its flower canopy, staring. Waiting. Not even other passersby could unlock its gaze on him.

“At least he doesn’t look injured,” Asbel said.

“Too bad we don’t have any fish to feed him.”

Asbel laughed. “I guess not.” He gave a small wave. “Sorry, little guy.”

The cat raised his head to stare at Asbel’s hand. No other movement.

Asbel actually looked a little unnerved. “Here, let’s head back.” Sophie blinked, and Asbel beckoned her to follow him. The cat’s eyes started to dart around, unsure what to do next. Sophie’s heart melted a little. She didn’t want to leave him alone, but besides getting fish, she didn’t know how else to take care of an animal like that. When she tried to approach, the cat stepped backwards. Let down, Sophie started after her father back to the manor.

The walk back was quiet, Asbel seemingly lost in his thoughts. Sophie was surprised he wasn’t more friendly to the cat. Maybe he was one of those “dog people” Captain Malik told her about, like Lady Kerri. Grandma had a pet dog, which Asbel always made sure to play with in the morning. However, he hadn’t done that since Lady Kerri took him with her to Yu Liberte, where she moved in with Uncle Hubert.  

Asbel was most likely a dog person, Sophie decided, stopping before the garden steps. But what made the difference?

A few seconds passed before Asbel noticed she stopped. “Is something wro-”

_Mrrow._

Sophie jumped, then peered over her shoulder. The cat sat a few feet behind her, cementing his presence. He meowed again, his voice deeper and more gravelly than expected.

“He followed us again,” Sophie chirped, her hands moving to her chest in excitement.

“All the way here?” Asbel walked to Sophie’s side. The cat stood up expectantly, its tail high and twitching at the tip. Asbel kneeled, his hand outstretched. “Hey there… Uh, sorry about earlier.”

The cat lowered his head curiously, slowly inching forward. Sophie stepped closer too, but she might as well have been invisible. After a few more sniffs of Asbel’s fingers. the cat pressed his face against them. Asbel let the cat rub on his hand until the cat meowed in demand, giving him no choice but to scratch the top of his head.

Sophie reached out her hand, too, but the cat sniffed her a little before turning back to Asbel. He even flopped on his back to show off his soft, white belly.

Asbel laughed nervously. “I don’t think a cat has ever liked me before.” He ran his fingers over the fluffy chest.

Sophie smiled, petting the cat across his back as he lay on the ground. His fur felt slightly matted, probably from always rolling in the dirt. She couldn’t remember seeing him with any other human. Did he not have a family?

Asbel straightened up. “Guess we’ll have to have one more stop on our rounds each day.”

“We’re not taking him with us?”

The cat meowed again from the ground, not done being petted.

“We don't know who he belongs to, so we have to see where his family might be first. Maybe we can ask around later.”

Sophie frowned, but nodded. “I hope we can help him soon.”

“It doesn’t look like he’s going hungry. Maybe there’s someone who feeds him.”

“But if he has no one, what can we do?”

A pause. Asbel glanced to the side. “Well…”

The cat didn’t like all this gossip about him. He trilled as he stood up, rubbing himself against Asbel’s leg with its tail poised in the air. Asbel blinked, then sighed. “Come on, don’t make me look bad.”

Pale green eyes stared up at him expectantly.

“Oooh, kitty! Mama, Lord Asbel has a kitty!”

From a few feet away, a little girl pulled on her mother’s hand toward them. Her mother had little grasp on her as it was, but she pulled her close while talking with another adult. The cat’s head whipped around at the disturbance, immediately backing away. The mother’s grip lasted for all of ten seconds before the child burst free and closed in, a eager grin plastered on her face.

The cat wasted no time. Hot feet darted backwards, then blazed past the child and off into freedom. The child, unfazed, dashed after the cat before being scooped back up by her mother. The sudden silence after such a whirlwind felt almost... wrong.

“Poor kitty.” Sophie lowered her head.

A familiar hand rested on her shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll be just fine. With speed like that, I don’t think the little guy has anything to worry about.” Asbel smiled reassuringly.

Sophie nodded. “Maybe he’s going back to the catnip.”

“Catnip?”

“The catnip outside Cheria’s garden. I’ve seen him sleeping by there before.”

Asbel brought a hand to his chin. “Really…? Well, I guess we can go look there after lunch if you’re still worried about him. Still, he’s definitely going to be okay.”

Sophie didn’t know if she believed him. She didn’t want him to be “fine,” she wanted the cat to be happy. And he seemed happiest when he was around Asbel, something Sophie could relate to. But with a rumble in her stomach and the promise of crablettes, she put her concerns behind her.

Besides, there was no way that cat would stay away forever. When she later told Asbel her hunch, he said he feared the same.


End file.
